=== Toronto, Ont., Canada == 2005 ===
"I swear to god," She said, "I will bring you to justice." A woman in a silver catsuit said, "You can sure as hell try!" Then, a bolt of energy shot from the woman's hands towards the girl, who wore a suit similar to that of the legendary Senshi. The girl in the sailor suit quickly dodged the bolt & the scene freezes.
Hi! I'm Naru. That girl in the Sailor suit, that's me. Strange isn't it? Well, the story on that is even stranger than what I'm dealing with. Wondering what planet I protect? It's Earth. Yes, Earth. This Earth. The pretty blue marble. Now, before you all go on a rant and say, 'Mamoru Chiba is the true guardian of Earth!' Yeah, well there's a story behind that & its kind of a heart-breaker, but let's not focus on that right now. Let's go back to about 1995...ish when all of this started.
=== Juban, Jpn. == 1995 ===
Let's see...It was around the start of summer break in '95. It was the first time in about 8 or so months that I got to hang out with Usagi, my best friend. She was always busy with her friends. I didn't resent her one bit for it. It just felt...lonely without her around & I was still hurting from the loss of Nephrite, the only man that I truly loved. Even to this day, its like a dagger is stuck in my heart and I tried to move on with Umino, but i was still hurting.
We were having lunch. Usa with her usual eats and I myself wasn't feeling all that hungry. Just sitting there with a tea, siring and poking it with a spoon. "You're still hung up on him," my dear friend asked, "aren't ya?" I sighed and said, "Ya. I miss him so much! When I'm out with Unimo, I think of Nephrite. It's not just with him, it is all the time. I close my eyes and see that moment when he was killed." Uasgi put down her fork and said, "You have to know that his death wasn't your fault."
I looked up at her and said, "How...how would you know this?" Usagi smiled cautiously and said, "I...uh...well..." She quickly stuffed a forkfull of dumplings in her gob. She was going to tell me something, but dodged it like a pro. I sipped my tea and asked, "How are the studies going?" Usa gulped down a mouthful of soda and said, "Better when you have the highest ranked student in the nation helping you out. You should come to one of our study sessions. It might get your mind off of him."
I shook my head and said, "Unimo's helping me out, so I should be fine." Usagi finished her lunch, then got up and said, "Meet me tomorrow at Hikawa Shrine. I'd like to do something for you that might put your mind at ease." I gave her a nervous mile and said, "Sure, not a problem." She left, but I stayed, feeling a pang of sadness wash over me. I finished my tea and ordered a burger for the road, which for me, is quite unusual. I guess I'm starting to pick some of Usa's habits.
The next morning, I got up, got ready and went to the shrine. It was a beautiful place. Perfect for quiet contemplation. A shrine maiden approached and said, "You must be Naru. Usagi said you'd be coming." I looked at the black-haired girl and said, "Rei, isn't it?" She just nodded and said, "We all have secrets that we need to keep to ourselves." I confusingly said, "What...what do you mean?" Rei gave her a wry smile and said, "You'll see in due time."
Usagi and Mamoru walked up the steps behind me. I smiled at the both of them and said, "So this is the hunk that's been keeping you busy, eh?" Usa just nodded. "Naru, this Chiba Mamoru." Mamoru nodded his head as a greeting to me and said, "Usako told me about you wanting to see an old lover again?" I nervously nodded and said, "It's been god knows how long. My heart was in pieces when he died in my hands. I just haven't been the same since then." Mamoru nodded and said kindly, "I know." He proceeded to pull out a stone from his pocket. "I don't often do this, but Usako convinced me that this was a special situation," he said, then placing the stone on the ground. Mamoru then had a look of concentration about his face.
Suddenly, a cloud of smoke emanated from the stone and quickly dissolved to reveal a human-like form. It knelt and said, "You wish my counsel, my prince?" Mamoru shook his head and simply pointed at me. It turned and looked at me. "Naru?" it said. It was Nephrite! I couldn't believe my eyes. A wave of many emotions washed over me as I looked at what I thought was the ghost of the man I loved! I ran to him and held him in an embrace that was so long in the making. "I missed you so much!" I said with tears streaming down my face. "So have I, Naru," he said happily, "so have I."
We disentangled ourselves and I asked Mamoru, "How are you able to do this?" Mamoru simply said, "I have special powers. We all do." Usa stepped forward and said, "Recognise these buns from somewhere else?" I gave her a strange look and said, "I don't think-Wait...Sailor Moon?!" My jaw went slack. Usa smiled and said, "Yup. The pretty guardian in a sailor suit." I asked nervously, "You're not human are you?" Usa answered, "We are, silly! Our past lives reawakened in us some time ago. Mamoru here was the prince and guardian of earth millennia ago!" Nephrite interjected, "The second guardian." Both Mamoru & Usagi looked at him and said, "What?"
Nephrite looked at me and said, "You might want to take a seat, Naru." I shook my head and said, "I think I'm fine." He started on a long story. "This was about twenty years before you were born, my Prince," Nephrite said, "Earth had a Sailor Guardian and held the seed of this planet in her breast. If Pluto was the oldest, then Sailor Earth was second to her. She was a bit of a wild child with the youthful spirit of this planet in her hands. Shortly after you were born, my Prince, she saw the future of this planet in you and decided to go into a deep slumber to allow the transfer of Earth's star seed to take place without any harm to her or you, as extracting a star seed from a living host would kill that host. I was actually there when the transfer happened and something went wrong. I think we were ambushed by Beryl's mercenaries. We moved Sailor Earth to the Ethereal Chamber, which was a sacred resting place on earth used to house the spirits of our greatest leaders."
"Beryl searched for the chamber," he continued, "but couldn't find it. She settled for the four of us, the Four Kings. I was the most resistant to her powers, but had to cave. The rest...well, you know." Mamoru nodded and said, "So who is Sailor Earth?" Nephrite looked at me and said, "Its Naru." After that, I don't remember all that much, but i felt all the blood drain from my face and proceeded to fall flat on my back. So I'm Sailor Earth. Wow. I faintly heard nepherite say, "I told her to sit..." before I went out
I woke up about an hour later with a splitting headache. Nephrite took me into the shrine and laid me into a bed. "All of this is something of a shock to you," he asks, "Isn't it?" I nodded and said, "You think?" Nephrite smiled and said, "I kind of figured. It'll take some time to train-" I stopped him cold and said, "Wait a minute, I never agreed to undergo any transformation or anything! I'm just a normal girl, trying to live a normal life." Rei came in with a glass of water and some medicine for my headache. I looked at her and said, "Are you a part of al this?" Rei said, "Yes. We all were normal girls before we met Luna, then the game changed." I nodded and said, "How did you cope?" Rei smiled and said, "We continued living our lives until we were needed." I just smiled, took the medicine and said, "Thanks."
Nephrite looked deeply into my eyes and said, "You are the strongest, most kind hearted person that I've met. You took my cold, evil heart at the time and turned it kind with your love. If you permit me, I would like to accompany you on this journey and help you realise your true power that is inside you." I put my hand on his face in a caring manner. "If it means being with you," I said, "then I'll do it. I would go through fire to be with you." I took Nephrite in a loving embrace and kissed him about the lips, then he helped me up and led me back outside. "When would you like to start training?" he asked. I thought for a moment and said, "I think the weekend would be good." Nephrite gave me that warm, handsome smile that swept me off my feet and said, "That sounds wonderful."
I went back home and had a nice dinner with Mama and helped her clean up the store. "I'm looking to open up another store," she said. I looked up from one of the display cases by the door and asked, "Where at? Akibono?" Mama said casually, "Toronto, Canada." I slowly looked up and said, "Toronto? You're kidding, right?" Mama smiled and said, "It won't be for another two years at best. I'm just looking into it to see if its feasible." I softly smiled and said, "I'm fine with that."
Once we finished cleaning, I decided to have mama meet Nephrite. The first thing Usagi said to me after I found out about my past life is to keep my identity safe, no matter who you talk to.